


A Floor Away

by dat_heichou



Series: Fic Drabbles [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4569594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dat_heichou/pseuds/dat_heichou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The couple upstairs is the bane of Tsukishima Kei's existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Tsukkiyama week prompts  
> Chapter 1 is Day 1 Jealousy
> 
> Inspired by this au by ladiieschoice:  
> ok but a ‘your apartment is next to/above mine and i can hear you and your partner dancing and singing and the bed moving and you two laughing and talking in hushed tones and it won’t let me sleep so i bitch about it to you 24/7 and one day it stops and one day turns to one week and then months and i haven’t seen you smile in forever please let me in, i’ve been knocking for ten minutes’ au.  
> http://ladiieschoice.tumblr.com/post/124416909010/ok-but-a-your-apartment-is-next-toabove-mine-and

Tsukishima Kei was not a fan of couples.  PDA was absolutely disgusting and so were those gross affectionate glances they shared. His brother used to laugh and tease him, saying that he was just jealous, but now that he moved into his new apartment, Kei was 110% sure that couples existed purely to annoy and inconvenience him.

The prime example was his upstairs neighbors.  As a whole he liked his apartment building:  it was close to campus, had a downstairs laundry room, decent heating and air conditioning, and it was miraculously affordable.  In fact, if it didn’t have so many advantages, then Kei would seriously consider moving just because of his upstairs neighbors.

They were a couple. And the walls were thin.  Even though he couldn’t see them, he could hear them.  He could hear them laughing and singing along to the movies they watched.  He could hear them screaming when they watched horror movies (seriously, who chose them if they  _both_ screamed like small children while watching them?).  He could also hear the bed in the room above his creaking sometimes and on those nights he quickly pulled his headphones over his ears and cranked his music up as loud as it could go.

The absolute worst part about the whole situation is that when he would go upstairs to complain (if there’s one thing Kei has mastered in his 21 years of life is how to complain enough to get what he wants), they blush and get stupidly bashful.  Like, somehow seeing their loving glances as they apologized made the whole situation feel even worse.  Like now that he knew the faces that went along with the ever-present noises of a young couple in love, he couldn’t live in his apartment without feeling like he was imposing on their intimacy.

Of course, those thoughts were stupid, so Kei decided to complain more.  There was no way in hell he was feeling like a third wheel when he’s alone in his own damn apartment.  So less-than-neighborly visits between floors were a weekly occurrence.

The freckled one was the one who answered the door most of the time.  Every time, his cheeks were red with embarrassment as he apologized with a simple “Sorry, Tsukki!”  (Tsukishima was pretty sure there was a typo in the building directory somewhere but he couldn’t be bothered to  _put effort_  into fixing it.)  Then Kei would go on his way and there would be a noticeable attempt at softened voices wafting from his ceiling for the rest of the night, only to be forgotten and back to full volume in the morning.  

Kei hadn’t realized that anything changed until one night when he curled up with a book on his couch.  _Its Friday,_ he mused as he flipped to the page he had been on before,  _it’s their sappy movie night, so they’ll probably start singing again sometime soon._    As he got absorbed into reading, he forgot about his observation until hours later as he crawled in bed.  There had been no out of tune harmonies from above.  No laughter.  There had been absolutely nothing to disturb him from his reading and instead of feeling satisfied that for once he was able to completely relax without distraction, Kei felt unbalanced.  Something that he could easily predict (he never would admit that he was  _getting used to_  the activities of his upstairs neighbors) had been completely gone.  But he shrugged as he relaxed into bed, figuring that it must have been an off day and that things would be back to the predictable soon.

Things didn’t go back to the way it was before.  It had been a week and things were still eerily silent upstairs.  Honestly Kei was starting to wonder if they had moved out or something, but he also stubbornly felt like it was not his job to go out of his way to check to see whether they were there or not.

As three weeks went by, a mistaken envelope that had made its way into Kei’s mailbox became incentive to travel upstairs.  As he delivered the letter to a polite young blond in the hall, he casually asked if that freckled guy and his boyfriend with the glasses still lived next door.  

“Oh,” she murmured, as she glanced over quickly to examine the door one apartment over, as if willing the occupant to not be within hearing range.  “Well, Yamaguchi still lives there,” she spoke in a hushed tone, “that’s the guy with freckles.  But um, he and his boyfriend broke up, and he moved out.”

“Oh,” was all Kei could answer before he awkwardly walked back to his floor.  To be honest, that never seemed like a possibility.  As often as he complained about couples and how their existence plagued him, he never really thought about the idea of a couple breaking up.  In his mind, they simply continued to exist as a mushy entity together forever. Realizing that the couple that he had been overhearing for months was now no longer together was strange.  No more need to go upstairs and complain to the flustered freckled guy that always got his name wrong.   _Funny,_ Kei thought as he opened the door to his apartment,  _I never bothered to learn either of their names before.  Now that I know its Yamaguchi, I have no need for it anymore._

Now that he knew what had happened to the couple that haunted his life, Kei noticed that Yamaguchi was still seen around the building.  No wonder why he hadn’t recognized him.  All that cheerfulness and that spring in his step was gone now. He walked slowly with his head down and if he didn’t have that stupidly awkward cowlick on the top of his head, Kei might have missed him entirely.  

The man was downright gloomy and it was creepy to be honest.  To go from such an obnoxiously happy person to someone so depressed was…  _concerning._

* * *

“So your noisy neighbors broke up and now the guy seems really down?” Akiteru asked, shifting his phone against his shoulder.  It was strange to hear Kei openly ask for advice and he wanted to give his little brother his full attention.

“Yeah. It’s been a month and it’s sorta creepy.”  If it had gotten bad enough for Kei to tell his brother about it, then it was certainly bugging him, but neither of the brothers was going to bring that up.

“Well he’s probably lonely. Maybe you should go talk to him,” Akiteru suggested openly.  

“What? No!”  The idea of just going upstairs and starting a conversation seemed really strange to Kei.  Did people actually do that?

“Make friends, Kei!” Akiteru sang as he hung up the phone.  Kei groaned as he pictured the smile he knew was on his brother’s face. Since when did Tsukishima Kei make  _friends?_  

* * *

That Friday, as he stood outside the door to the apartment before his, Kei was seriously questioning his decision.  He  _didn’t_ make friends and there was no way this could go well.  But Akiteru had gone out of his way to send him one of his favorite childhood movies and  _it was_ movie night Friday— _or was that just a couple thing, not a Yamaguchi thing?  This might not work after all._

Kei sighed and rolled his shoulders.  This whole thing was stupid and he might as well get it over with so he could go home. He knocked on the door sharply, torn between hoping the young man wasn’t home and hoping he was.  In the answering silence, Kei adjusted the DVD box under his arm and let out a frustrated groan.  Was he supposed to knock again or just leave?

The door opened so slowly that Kei almost didn’t hear it.  Dark brown eyes peered at him from behind the door chain that was still in place. Those eyes widened in surprise at Kei’s presence and he could hear the room’s occupant fumbling as he tried to unlock the metal chain and get the door open.

“I’m sorry?  Um, is there a problem, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi almost hid his body behind the door, far more timid than he had been the previous times Kei had visited.  His face was much paler than Kei remembered and it almost seemed like he had shrunk. When was the last time this guy had stood up with his head held high?

“The problem is,” Kei crossed his arms in front of his chest as if to articulate his point, “that you’re being pathetic.”

“Excuse me?” Yamaguchi squeaked, his voice almost cracking with surprise.  He looked up at the blonde like he had sprouted a second head.

“Its movie night, isn’t it?” Kei asked, his body language faltering slightly as his shoulders slumped. “I brought  _The Land before Time_ , if you want to see it.”

Yamaguchi’s incredulous face made him seem even younger, as he looked wide eyed up at Kei.  “Are you saying,” he began slowly, as if trying to fathom the words even as they left his mouth, “that you want to watch  _The Land before Time_  with me?”

Kei lifted his hand to adjust his glasses, silently wishing that Akiteru was there to help him figure out this whole making friends thing.  “Well, I figured it was too quiet and that you might want company.  But if you don’t want to, then I can go.”  Kei turns on the balls of his feet only to feel a light grip on his forearm.

“No wait!” Yamaguchi blurted, his face turning a familiar pink.  “I mean, it  _is_ pretty quiet in here now.” The timid smile growing on his lips made Kei’s heart flutter embarrassingly.  “Do you want to come in?”

Kei bit his lip before responding with his own small fleeting smile.  “Sure.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Day 4: in your favorite tale
> 
> Movies referenced/slightly spoiled: A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Princess Bride, and Marley and Me.
> 
> (Might add to the au later but I'm not sure.)

If Akiteru were to ask, Kei would have told him that,  _no_ his life wasn’t much different than it had been before.  But it would have been a waste of breath because it was obvious to both Tsukishima brothers that things were in fact very different.

For the first time ever, Kei had a friend.  To be honest, it was a little weird to get used to—texts vibrating his phone with random factoids about Yamaguchi’s day, invitations to come upstairs and help try out a new recipe for dinner, and instances of  _actually pleasant_ small talk in the building lobby before they headed their separate ways out to class.

It was strange that someone was actually seeking him out.  Especially considering their first months of interaction were honestly less than pleasant.  Kei may have lacked the patience to work well with social etiquette, but at least he had self-awareness.  If Yamaguchi ever decided to introduce him to those other (disgustingly energetic sounding) friends he always told stories about, then Kei was sure they’d pepper Yamaguchi with questions about why he’d hang out with such a downer all the time.

And yet, Yamaguchi himself never seemed to waver in his friendship with Kei.  In fact, in the few months since they had started hanging out, Yamaguchi had started standing straighter and smiling more.  The young man had apparently found something in their friendship to be happy about and Kei wasn’t about to complain because he rather enjoyed it himself.

So the two continued to carve out time to spend together and Kei stopped questioning their friendship.  They had created a new normal and now Kei had a hard time remembering how on earth he had passed his time before.

Those movie night Fridays continued and became a regular practice.  Each week they’d take turns selecting movies and buying snacks, with only playful arguments over each other’s poor taste in movies.

_“Really, Tsukki?  Do we really have to watch_ all  _the_ Land before Time _movies?”_

_“You wanted us to watch the whole_ BBC Pride and Prejudice _series the last time you picked, so I think it’s perfectly fair.”_

_“You said you liked it!”_

_“Regardless, it’s still almost 6 hours of old time romance.”_

_“Didn’t Colin Firth make it worth it?”_

_“No.”_

Despite not seeing eye-to-eye in terms of genre or film length, they still seemed to enjoy each other’s company.  In fact, the banter seemed to make the movies even more enjoyable and many early Saturday mornings they were still sitting side by side on Yamaguchi’s couch, discussing why the movie was believable and why not, or whether or not it should be considering a classic.

Late one particular Friday night, Tsukki found himself trapped on Yamaguchi’s couch.  The end credits to  _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ were rolling and Yamaguchi was curled up beside him, clinging tightly to his arm.

“You weren’t actually scared of Freddy, were you?” Kei laughed, trying to peek at his friend’s face where it was hidden in his own armpit.  “His whole premise makes no sense.”

“Tsukkiii, you jumped a couple of times too!” Yamaguchi whined, his breath tickling Kei’s skin. “Besides, even if it’s not real, it’s still creepy.”

“You can see the blow up doll at the end, Yamaguchi.  We were both laughing at it, remember?”  Honestly Kei wanted to laugh again now, but he was holding himself back, in case Yamaguchi  _was_ actually scared.

“Still,” Yamaguchi pouted, finally moving his face away from Kei’s side to peek at him, trying to make his eyes as wide and innocent as possible, “I don’t know if I can sleep after watching that.  Can we watch another one?”

“Is it another one you’re picking?  ‘Cuz you chose this one and it didn’t work out too well for you.” Kei finally let out a chuckle as he saw Yamaguchi’s face shift into a sly smirk.  They both heard the implied yes in this answer and that was exactly what the shorter boy wanted.

“Well, I have  _The Princess Bride_ , and after a good scare you need a good laugh and some cute romance,” Yamaguchi grinned, relinquishing his death grip on Kei’s arm to rest his chin on his shoulder in an obvious attempt to goad him.

“Considering what you think is a ‘good scare,’ then I have doubts about what you think is ‘a good laugh,’” Kei laughed, gently pushing Yamaguchi further away from him in order to get up and stretch.

“I promise you’ll love it!” Yamaguchi laughed, laying back on the couch where Kei had left him.

Kei finally managed to get a solid crack out of his back and sat back down, leaning against the arm rest of the couch.  “Fine then.”

The farther they got into the movie, the more Kei felt like he was watching it by himself.  Yamaguchi had curled up against his chest, his head drooping every few minutes.

“You know, we can watch it next time,” he sighed as he ran his fingers through Yamaguchi’s hair, “You’re not gonna make it to the end.”

“The only way,” the freckled boy broke off to yawn, “I’m not gonna see the end is if Freddy gets me.”

They continued to watch in silence with only a few interruptions from Kei as the movie went on, answered by only half awake answers.

“She just fucking threw herself down the hill headfirst.  She should be dead or something by now.”

“It’s love, Tsukki.”  

“That is  _not_  how quick sand works.”

“It’s a movie, Tsukki.”

“Do you think he was bluffing or he actually could get up for ‘to the pain’?”

“Love, Tsukki. He can do _anything_.”

This time, as the end credits began to roll, Yamaguchi was openly drooling on his shirt.  Kei was going to admit that he liked it, as silly as the movie was, but figured he’d save that knowledge for himself at the moment.

“Yamaguchi, go crawl in bed,” he nudged him, trying to rouse his friend awake.

“Can’t,” Yamaguchi sighed through parted lips, “Freddy.” He nestled himself further into Kei’s shirt and Kei was beginning to wonder whether it was worth it to walk all the way back downstairs.

“If we fall asleep on the couch, you’re getting breakfast tomorrow,” he finally sighed, taking his glasses off to rest on the coffee table.

“As y’wish, Tsukki.”

* * *

The theme in Yamaguchi’s movie selection was not lost on Kei, but it wasn’t until they found themselves watching  _Enchanted,_  that Kei mentioned it.

As Yamaguchi was singing along to the ending songs, he looked up to see Kei staring at him and stopped mid-note.  “Sorry, Tsukki,” he mumbled, a blush spreading across his cheeks, “was I being too loud?”

Kei shrugged, ignoring the nagging thought that he had actually enjoyed listening to Yamaguchi sing along (not that he’d  _ever_ sing along with him).  “I was just wondering why you like these romantic movies.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened in surprise as he answered without hesitation:  “They’re fun.  I like seeing happy endings and people living happily ever after.”

Kei frowned, thinking about how silly the concept of ‘happily ever after’ actually was.  “I mean,” he continued, a truly curious question on his mind, “don’t you think love is scary?  I mean, considering…”  He trailed off, looking away uncertainly.  Of all the topics they didn’t talk about, Yamaguchi’s past relationship was one they never touched.  Kei hadn’t even bothered to learn the ex’s name and he honestly didn’t care to.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi paused, joining Kei in awkwardly examining the frayed rug on the floor.  “Well, yes it’s scary.  But… I don’t want to be held back by that, either.”  He gave a small smile when he looked up and caught Kei’s eye again, “I  _like_  believing in love, you know? It’s nice to think that there’s someone out there, that you can happily spend the rest of your life with.”

Kei arched an eyebrow, taking in this answer.  He’d never really talked to someone about love before, so he wasn’t sure what he was expecting.  He thought back to how happy Yamaguchi had seemed in his past relationship; those flustered smiles and cheerful giggles.  Just as he began thinking about how  _maybe_ it would be possible for love to exist the way Yamaguchi thought, he remembered the depression that had smothered his friend when it ended.  How could someone be happy knowing that that could happen at any moment?

While Kei had been stuck in his head, mulling over these thoughts, Yamaguchi had shifted on the couch, folding his legs up under him and angling himself so he could get a better look at Kei.  “Actually, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi began, a red blush invading his cheeks, “I think I’m… starting to fall for someone again.”

Kei looked up at him, startled.  His heart hurt when he thought about the rise and fall of his friend’s last relationship and anxiety settled as he thought about what that could do.  Would Yamaguchi get hurt again?  Would Kei get pushed back to the periphery, only hearing them through the thin walls?  Would life go back to the way it had been before they became friends?

Yamaguchi seemed to misread this surprise and instead spoke up in defense, “I mean, Tsukki, it’s been like six months since me and Makoto—ah, Shimada, broke up.  I think, it’s a normal pace for this sorta thing. And it’s not like I’m gonna date anytime soon.”  He chewed his lower lip for a few seconds before adding, “I don’t think he likes me back. And—and that’s okay!”  The unsteady smile on his face hurt Kei’s chest and he lifted hand to rub at it, hoping it would go away.

“I just–,” Kei stopped when Yamaguchi tilted his head to listen and after a few beats found his words again to continue, “I don’t want you to get hurt.”  He hid away the selfish concerns about what his friend’s romance life would mean for their time together.  This conversation was already a mess at it was.

“I’ll try to be careful,” Yamaguchi smiled softly, dropping his gaze back to the ground before asking, “What about you, Tsukki?  Have you been in love before?”

Kei simply quirked an eyebrow and smirked at him, “You know me.  What do you think?”

* * *

Despite Kei’s concerns, their friendship continued on as it was, with no noticeable differences caused by Yamaguchi’s crush.  Kei still found himself thinking about it and wondering whether Yamaguchi was getting any closer to the person he had feelings for.  But if he didn’t ask about it, he wouldn’t know anything for sure, and therefore it couldn’t change anything.  So he didn’t ask.  

For his part, Yamaguchi didn’t tell either.

Even with the disruptive thoughts about Yamaguchi’s impending relationship status, Kei felt the most comfortable during their time together.  Somehow, things just _worked_  and he didn’t know what exactly to think about that.  

But one Friday, when it was his turn to pick, Kei tried to pick out something that he thought Yamaguchi would like.  As he was let in to the higher floor apartment, he glanced at the copy of the DVD he brought, the title  _Marley and Me_  bright red on the top of the case.   _Yamaguchi liked dogs, right? This would be a good choice._

Yamaguchi’s face fell slightly when he saw Kei’s choice but before the blonde got a chance to ask anything about it, he popped the DVD in the player and they settled down to watch.

Kei understood soon enough. Oh he understood exactly what that face meant.  When the movie ended, he didn’t even bother hiding the tears that rolled down his face.  “Why did the dog have to die?”

“Oh, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi leaned forward to tip his friend’s face toward him.  His eyes were red rimmed as well, but their expression was pitying.  “You didn’t know?”  

“No,” Kei frowned, trying to hide his embarrassment.  He had been trying to pick something that would be  _fun_ to watch, not something that made him look stupid.  He tried to twist away from Yamaguchi’s gentle grip on his face, but those fingers followed him.

“Let me see,” Yamaguchi murmured softly.  Kei couldn’t bring himself to pull away this time and closed his eyes, letting the fingers gently trail across his cheeks and wipe his tears slowly away.  The touch slowed and Kei opened his eyes to see Yamaguchi looking up at him with the softest expression he’d ever seen.   _Actually,_ Kei thought he could remember seeing it a long time ago, directed at someone else.

“You’re so cute, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispered, his fingers tracing almost reverently across his cheeks.

“Sh-shut up, Yamaguchi,” Kei stammered, his heart pounding in his chest.  “I’m  _not_ cute.”

“But you’re  _very_  cute,” Yamaguchi smiled, his eyes containing a playful gleam amongst that warm affection.  His tongue licked his lower lip nervously and caught Kei’s gaze.  Kei glanced back up quickly, feeling his heart speed up even more.

“You’re cuter though,” Kei blurted, mortification coloring his face red.  Too busy internally screaming at himself for blurting the words out, he almost missed the next words out of Yamaguchi’s mouth.

“Can I kiss you, Tsukki?”

Kei froze, totally out of his depth.  Words utterly failed him and his response was the tiniest gesture that Yamaguchi might have missed had he not been so close:  an affirmative nod.

When their lips met it was the softest touch Kei had ever experienced, a light brush of skin on skin that set his heart aflutter.  Yamaguchi let out a satisfied sigh as he pulled back, his breath warm on Kei’s face. Kei leaned forward, trying to find those lips back, trying to regain the warmth that had settled in his chest, only to be stopped by Yamaguchi’s gentle yet firm hands.  

“I really like you, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi’s eyes had been closed ever since the kiss, and Kei’s heart pounded even harder when he realized that his friend was nervous too.

For someone as romantic as Yamaguchi, there should be pretty words in a moment like this, but it was all Kei could do to keep himself from just blurting out ‘same’ and trying to kiss him again.  Then a movie night from weeks ago flashed into his memory and he found himself with an idea. An embarrassing idea that a certain romantic might like.

“Ask me to do something,” Kei whispered, his voice surprisingly deeper than he expected.

“What?”  The longer they sat there, the more flustered Yamaguchi seemed to become; as if that kiss was the extent of his confidence.  He’d made the first move and now he was unsure of the reaction it garnered.

“Make a request,” Kei swallowed harshly, trying to find his own courage, “Buttercup.”

“Kiss me,” Yamaguchi breathed, blushing as he realized what Kei was trying to do.  The light smile on his lips seemed to indicate that he liked the gesture.

As Kei leaned in this time, closing the distance between them once again, he whispered, “As you wish.”

 

 

> ‘”That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying “As you wish”, what he meant was, “I love you.” And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.”—The Princess Bride

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr: dat-heichou.tumblr.com


End file.
